The return of Paradise

Is it any wonder that those followers of Jesus of Nazareth, realizing the meaning and impact of His life and ministry, saw Him as that branch? Jesus' roots were deep in the soil of Judaism. But the leaves on His tree were so different. The fruit on His tree bore such little resemblance to that old fruit. To those disciples it was clear that Jesus, born in a manger and dying on a hillside, was a banner to all the world that Paradise was reborn and reestablished.

The new age occurred when the knowledge of God and the obedience to God was reborn in that One Man. But, even more it came with power as it was reborn not just in His heart, but in the hearts of all who followed Him.

Jesus, that new branch, was one whose total being was filled with wisdom and understanding. He knew how to live in the presence of God. He understood the will and the ways of God as had no man. Jesus, that new branch, was one whose total being was filled with counsel and might. He knew how to live before others with power, the very power of God.

He was able to withstand the force of evil and the powers of destruction and death. He could offer advice to all in words that made sense to them. Jesus, that new branch, was one whose total being was filled with knowledge and fear of the Lord. He overflowed with a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord of creation, with the God of Eden. That Galilean could walk with God, talk with God, commune with God. Even more, He could teach others how to do the same.

No wonder that Christmas is so marvelous. No wonder that Advent is such an important group of Sundays for us. We are getting ready for the One who brings a new world. We are preparing for the One who recreates the old Paradise for all of us. When He is finished, when He is done with us, He has created in us a new innocence, a new peace, a new harmony.

His work accomplished, we are able to truly proclaim, "The Old has passed away, the New has come." That new is a new world of peace. That new is a new world of innocence. That new is a new world of harmony. That new is the New Age, Eden Returned, in which we can again live for and with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That new age is indeed a return to Paradise.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." Amen and Amen.